My Family Culture

When you going through a catastrophic event the most important thing to me would be family.  As long as I had my family I know that everything else would fall into place eventually.  If I were to be moved to an unknown country the three items in addition to my family and change of clothes would be my Bible, family album, and my family cookbook.  I would share with others that my faith and my relationship with God is my first priority in life.  My Bible is one of my most valued possessions that I hold dearly.  I live my life through my Bible and I reference it often to help get through difficult times.   The second item I would take is an album with family pictures.  This album represents my family and the history where I come from.  My family is a big part of who I am and feel truly blessed.  The third item I would take is my family cookbook.  This cookbook is filled with recipes from my great grandmother, grandmother, mother, aunts, and cousins.  These recipes are staples at every family gathering and is something that I would like to continue using to represent my family culture. 

If I was told that I could only keep one item, I would choose to keep my Bible.  As difficult as it would be, my faith is my foundation and with that, I could lean on God to face any struggle and begin to build a new life for myself and my family. 

As culture is important, and would hate to loose many of things that make me who I am, I also realize that my culture and my values are instilled in me and would go with me wherever I went. 

When I think of research...

My view of research has changed quite a bit during this course.  While I always knew that there were a lot of things to consider when doing research, I am now aware of how intricate of a process completing research is.  It is not as simple as coming up with a question and trying to find the answer.  The question has to be written clearly and in a way that allows the research to lead to an answer that can be understood clearly.  I also learned that there are different processes and methods that can be used to complete the research.  Many things like researchers bias, ethics, data collection and analysis, and issues with participants all need to be considered when completing the research.  Any mistake in any of these areas or in the research design could lead to invalid data, in turn, wasting the time and effort of the researcher.  As an early childhood educator, my view on research has been enhanced when considering the effects the research can have on children.  Not only can research provide children and professionals with information that can improve the development of children, but we also need to consider the impact that allowing children to participate in the research project could have on the child.  Children are often an essential piece of the research design when completing research to help children.  We need to make sure that their best interest is always in mind when completing the research.

A big thanks to all my colleagues for sharing their views and insights throughout this course.  I wish you the best with your upcoming classes.

Research Around the World

I chose to review the Early Childhood Australia website (http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/).  This site offered a vast amount of information regarding early childhoold.  One of the research topics mentioned on this website was Everyday learning about responding to the emotional needs of children, Respecting diversity: Articulating early childhood practice, Learning and teaching through play, Children's resislience: Working with the early years learning framework. 

In the early childhood news it mentions a media release regarding "How does your state rate?"  This is a new report regarding the progress that each state is making towards the National reforms of the early childhood education and sector.  It mentions that changes have been made and their will continue to be changes in the future.  It also mentions that new standards have been placed and will continue to be implemented.  I find this information insightful as here in the United States early childhood is evolving and is in the process of setting higher standards as they are in Australia.  As early childhood is an ever changing field it is important that we continue to set new standards and ensure their implementation. 

I found the link "Socially and Emotional as a basis for curriculum" in the Every Child magazine to be noteworthy.  This link discusses why should social and emotional learning be the basis for curriculum and how do we teach social and emotional skills.  It mentions the importance of relationships to learning and making meaningful relationships with each child so they feel safe and valued.  The link http://www.kidsmatter.edu.au/ was offered as a resource to provide additional information on this topic. 

Research that Impacts Children and Families

When looking into the early childhood field, there is endless research and studies being conducted.  Many of these studies have made an impact or will make an impact on a child or family in some way.  No matter how big or small the impact was, it made a difference in a person's life.  If I had the means and knowledge to conduct a research study, I would choose to research the effects of parent involvement on children's school readiness skills.  I feel that the effects of this study would make a positive contribution to the well-being of children and families.  As parent's are a child's first and most important teacher, we need to give families the tools and knowledge to help their child become successful.  Most importantly we need to find ways to involve families in their child's education.  As early intervention is also key to a child's success, the earlier in a child's educational process parent involvement begins, the more powerful the effects. 

The positive outcomes from this study would show:

Higher grades, test scores, and graduation rates
Better school attendance
Decreased use of drugs and alcohol
Better self-esteem

As the lack of parental involvement is the biggest problems facing public schools, we need to give parents the tools necessary to help their child be successful.  In doing so, we will have positive outcomes that will make a major impact in a child's life. 

Your Personal Research Journey

I chose to research ways to promote healthy social emotional development in young children.  I chose this topic for my simulation as this is one of key factors when looking at the social emotional development of a young child.  Social emotional development is a personal interest to me as I am involved with this issue on a daily basis in my current position.  In order for a child to be succesful, we need to be aware of their social-emotional needs and address them.  As there are many factors when looking at the topic of social-emotional development, I feel forunate to have the opportunity to research and learn more on this topic.

When completing the simulation process, I found that narrowing my research to one chosen topic beneficial as it was easier to find more specific information.  This allowed me to direct my research more specifically.  I was able to understand how to use the literature review and how it can be very beneficial to research.  This process helped me direct my reading and to find the imporant information from within the reseach report. 

Completing the research chart was very beneficial as it guided me through the research process.  As many of these terms and strategies are new to me, looking deeper and defining these terms gave me better understanding of research and how to conduct it.  Many of the articles in the learning resources of this course have given me a wider range of strategies and ideas to help in my research process.

When looking at the topic on social emotional development, are there any resources or experiences you can share with me to give me a different perspective on this area?

Resources to share:

Baggett, K. (2009, November). Technologies for Expanding the Reach of Evidence-Based Interventions:  Preliminary Results for Promoting Social-Emotional Development in Early Childhood Retrieved from Walden Library http://tec.sagepub.com.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/content/29/4/226.full.pdf+html

Final Blog Assignment

One consequence I learned from the podcasts is the passion that each professional had for the early childhood field.  This was shown by the way they spoke about their programs and communicated their personal stories.  Having passion for the field you work in is essential in order to have the greatest positive influence on child's life. 

A second consequence is the knowledge and information I gained from various countries and programs.  I was able to get a better understanding of various programs and how each one of them impacted and made a difference in a child's life. 

A third consequence is the implications of access or lack of access to quality health care and the impact it has on children.  Health plays such a vital role in the development of a child.  Those without health care are without a great disadvantage.

One goal is provide awareness and access to high quality programs for all children.

Getting to Know Your International Contacts

I listened to a podcast provided by Irma Allen.  Irma is Chairperson of the Swaziland Environment Authority (the equivalent of the EPA in the United States), and a member of the World Forum Nature Action Collaborative for Children.  She is passionate about early childhood.  One of the challenges she faces is the ability to train teachers and community members with regards to early childhood.  Her focus is on the nature dimension of early childhood.  There are no classrooms and that nature is the classroom.  They take opportunities throughout the day to teach children what is happening in their environment.  In her conversation, she mentioned a person who once attended their early childhood center and he shared that this program helped him appreciate his country and his environment more. 

The website provided by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural organizations gives information regarding education systems and how to strengthen them.  The section discussing early childhood has three of the main areas to focus on with trying to improve education programs.  The first category is access.  It is believed that learning begins at birth showing the importance of early childhood education.  The second category is quality.  It insures quality programs by providing trainings, materials, and curriculum that focuses on all children holistically.  The final category is investment.  This is an extremely important issue as many countries are struggling to provide the fund to create quality programs.  Providing quality programs to children and families is part of my professional goals and along with ensuring the needs of all children are met.  The information provided by the website goes along with my professional goals by addressing this issue in a much larger scale.